Elevator safety.



"B. D. CHARLES.

ELEVATOR SAFETY.

ArPLIoATIoN FILED Nov. 1,1904.

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NITED STATES Patented May 9, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

ELEVATOR SAFETY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,653, dated May 9, 1905.

Application filed November 1, 1904. Serial No. 230,900.

T all whom, it 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN D. CHARLES, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburg', in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevator Safety Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to same become broken the fall ofthe elevator can be prevented.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel device which is adapted to be secured to the bottom of the elevator-cage and to be manipulated by the operator of theelevator.

In constructing my improved device I have embodied means whereby should anything happen to the elevator to cause the same to descend more rapidly than is customary the operator of the elevator can actuate mechanism which will instantly place the elevatorcage in engagement with a pluralityfof obstructions which will interfere with the sudden descending of the elevator-cage.

With the above and other objects in view reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of an elevator-cage, showing my improved device attached to the bottom thereof.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of thel elevator-cage as constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the same mounted in a shaft of a building. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of an elevator-cage having my improved device secured thereto. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of one of the toothed bars employed in connection with my improved device; and Figs. 5 to 7, inclusive, are detail perspective views of parts of my improved device.

Reference will first be had to Fig. 2 of the drawings, wherein I have illustrated the side frames 1 and 2 of an elevator-shaft, and each oneof these frames is provided with a plurality of angle-irons 3, one of said angle-irons being clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The angle-irons are adapted to `be secured to the frames 1 and 2 of the elevator-shaft by any suitable means, and they are adapted to be spaced a few feet apart, whereby it will loe, as will be hereinafter more fully described, impossible for the elevator-cage to descend more than a few feet after the safety mechanism has been actuated. The reference-numeral 4designates the bottom of an elevator-cage, and to the bottom of said cage I secure upon each corner of the elevator by suitablemeans the depending rod 5, each rod beingscrew-threaded upon its end for the reception of nuts 6 6. Prior to securing the nuts upon the rods 5 a spiral spring 7 is placed upon each rod and a plate 8 is mounted upon the rods, said plate being provided with apertures 9 9 to receive the rods 5, and the nuts 6 are adapted to retain the plate 8 upon said rods. The plate is provided with slots 10 10, and in these slots are mounted the channel-bars 11 11. Secured by rivets 12 to the lower flanges of said channelbars are the channelbars 14. The lower iianges of said channel-bars 14 are secured by rivets 15 15 to a plate 16, said plate being clearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 7 of the drawings. The plate is provided with a plurality of apertures 17 to receive the rivets 15, and this plate is slotted longitudinally of its length, as indicated at 18. Prior to securing the plate 16 upon the. channel-bars 14 the angle-plates or hangers 19 are Aplaced in position to be secured by the rivets 15 to the plates 16 and the channel-bars 14.

The construction just described forms a substantially rectangular casing having open ends, and between the channel-bars 14 and upon the slotted plate 16 I mount the toothed bars, as designated by the reference-numerals 20 and 21. One of these bars is illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings,and -it will be observed that a portion of its length is provided with teeth 22, and when placing said bars between the channel-bars 14 the teeth are placed downwardly,whereloy they will be exposed through the slot 18 of the plate 16. Between the hangers 19 19 I mount the intermeshing pinions IOO 23 and 24, these pinions meshing with the teeth 22 of the bars 2O and 21, respectively. Mounted between the hangers 19 19 is a pinion 25, which meshes with the pinion 24 and is rotated by a lever 26, which extends upwardly past the cut-away portion 27 of the plate 8, through a slot 28, formed in the bottom of the elevator-cage to a position convenient to the operator of the elevator.

We will assume that the cables which support the elevator-cage have broken or that the mechanism which supports the elevator has become inoperative and the cage is rapidly descending within the elevator-shaft. The operator of the elevator immediately moves the lever 26, which will impart a partial rotation to the pinion 25, and this pinion will rotate the pinions 23 and 24, which mesh with the bars 20 and 21, and said bars will be forced outwardly in alinement with the angle-irons 3 and will engage the same and prevent the cage from rapidly descending. Upon the bars striking the angle-irons a few of these irons may be stripped from the frame before the elevator-cage has come to a full stop,

-and the sudden stopping of the cage and the jar occasioned by the bars 2O and QIengaging the angle-irons 3 will to a certain extent be taken up and relieved by the spiral springs 7, which surround the rods 5.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, it will be observed that my improved mechanism can be quickly actuated by the operator of the elevator cage and that if the operator acts promptly it will be impossible for the cage when falling to reach a high rate of speed before the same is stopped by my improved safety device.

While I have herein shown the preferred manner of constructing my improved device, I'do not care to limit myself to the speciiic construction shown, as I may rearrange the different parts of my device without departing from the general spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the type described the combination with an elevator-cage, side frames arranged in the elevator-shaft, an'gleeirons secured on said side frames, bolts depending from the bottom of the elevator-cage, a plate through which said bolts pass, and springs interposed between said plate and the bottom' of the cage, of a casing suspended from said plate, toothed bars arranged in. said casing in alinement with one another, two intermeshing pinions meshing respectively with the teeth on said bars, athird pinion meshing with one of said intermeshing pinions, and a handle attached to the shaft of said last-named pinion andextending upwardly through the bottom of the cage.

2. In a device of the character described,tl1e combination with an elevator-cage,side frames arranged in the elevator-shaft and projections secured to said side frames, depending bolts carried on the bottom of said cage, a plate movably suspended on said bolts, springs interposed between said plate and the bottom of the cage, angle-irons passing through slots in said plate, other angle-irons connectedto said first-named angle-irons, a second slotted plate connected to said last-named angle-irons, toothed bars slidably arranged upon said lastnamed plate between said last-named angleirons and two intermeshing pinions engaging respectively with said toothed bars, said pinions being journaled in brackets suspended from said last-named slotted plate, a third pinion journaled in said brackets and meshing with one of said intermeshing pinions, and a handle mounted on the shaft of said last-named pinion and projecting through the fioor of the cage.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presencefotl two witnesses.

BENJAMIN D. CHARLES. Witnesses:

H. C. EVERT, WM. C. HEITZ. 

